I've had problems in the US with the overuse of my card - more than five times in a Mall and it got bounced. The shops tried to call for authorisation, but the Visa Auth service could not raise anyone at Nationwide to reset the card. It appears they do not work 24/7, and a block in Las Vegas at 16:00 is 24:00 in the UK. I tried calling direct, but only got an annoying computer service.

I called and wrote to Nationwide after my trip - no dice. They failed to see the problem. So, I'm now cautious using the card multiple times and make sure that I save it for larger purchases. It's their loss at the end of the day.

Beware - the savings on transaction fees come at a cost!